1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to real estate sign posts. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sign post assembly and a tool for installing and uninstalling the sign post assembly.
2. State of the Art
In recent years, the marketing and sale of homes and other single family dwellings have become increasingly competitive as major real estate brokerage firms have quickly expanded nationwide through franchising. As a result, the manner in which real estate is advertised has become increasingly important. As part of this new awareness and attention to marketing, real estate brokerages have designed and put into use distinctive, personalized styles of on-site property sale signs. By way of example, many nationwide chains currently utilize a distinctive wooden sign post assembly, the right-angle design and configuration of which is readily recognizable.
While such signs provide a marked improvement in construction and appearance over the more simplistic signs previously in widespread use, these new signs are significantly more expensive and cumbersome to use. Typically, the before-described signs are fabricated of conventional “four-by-four” wooden posts, including a vertical post member approximately four to six feet in height and a horizontal post member approximately two to three feet in length. Such wooden materials with their unique appearance are relatively expensive. Moreover, such signs are necessarily large, heavy and awkward to handle, to the point that such signs cannot be conveniently transported in an ordinary automobile and, in any event, an average real estate agent has difficult handling and erecting such signs. Consequently, real estate brokerage firms typically hire an independent contractor to erect and take down such signs on-site at property listed by the firm, which of course further increases the overall expense associated with the use of such signs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,181, to DesNoyers, discloses an outdoor sign post assembly that overcomes many of the disadvantages of the above-mentioned sign posts of the prior art. However, such an outdoor sign post assembly has particular disadvantages, in which the DesNoyers reference discloses a relatively short anchor member for supporting the sign post assembly. While such anchor member may support the sign post assembly in some conditions, often the sign post is assembled in wet ground conditions, often resulting in insufficient support to the sign assembly. This can especially be a problem for sign posts assembled in areas prone to jarring by, for example, lawn mowers and playing children. Such problem is further exacerbated by the type of materials the sign assembly is made from, specifically, light-weight plastic tubing. The light-weight plastic tubing can crack and break from being jarred and often will not weather well when exposed to outside weather conditions. Furthermore, in conditions where the ground is hardened or is frozen, the anchor member disclosed in the DesNoyers reference will cause problems for many of the average real estate agents to sufficiently drive such anchor member into the ground.